_ Living Well With Hepatitis C By Jane Farrell article By Jane Farrell Hepatitis C, an inflammation of the liver caused by a virus, is a discouraging, debilitating condition. It affects an estimated 3.2 million Americans, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The illness is usually caused by receiving donated blood that is infected, having had a bad organ transplant, or sharing a needle or having sex with a person who is contaminated with the virus.
_ Medical Care The Right Questions to Ask Your Doctor About Hepatitis C By Sondra Forsyth article By Sondra Forsyth The Centers for Disease Control has designated May as Hepatitis Awareness Month. One goal of that campaign is to let Boomers know that of the more than three million Americans infected with hepatitis C, over 75% are in their 50s and 60s. You can find out the extent of your risk with this 5-minute online assessment from the CDC.
_ Women's Health and Wellness Women & Peripheral Artery Disease By Sondra Forsyth article Women, especially older women, face greater limits on their lifestyle and have more severe symptoms as a result of peripheral artery disease (PAD) than men do. The condition happens when fatty deposits build up in arteries outside the heart, usually the arteries supplying fresh oxygen and blood to the arms, legs and feet. About 8 million Americans have peripheral artery disease.
_ Home Health Visits Keep Heart Patient Out of the Hospital By article Research done at North Shore University Hospital on Long Island demonstrated a very significant reduction in hospital readmissions after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery for patients who received home health care through the “Follow Your Heart” program. The study was published in the May 2014 issue of The Annals of Thoracic Surgery.
_ For Meds Adherence, Feedback Trumps Digital Nagging By article A device that monitors people when they take their meds and then give feedback has advantages over “automated nagging” according to a release from Carnegie Mellon University about a study done there and presented on April 30th 2014 at the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) in Toronto.
_ Sleep Health Cherry Juice Promotes Better Sleep By article A morning and evening ritual of tart cherry juice may help you sleep better at night. That’s the finding of a study presented on April 28th at the annual meeting of the American Society of Nutrition, which is being held in conjunction with the Experimental Biology 2014 meeting in San Diego Researchers from Louisiana State University found that drinking Montmorency tart cherry juice twice a day for two weeks helped increase sleep time by nearly 90 minutes among older adults with insomnia. The study has been submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
Why Do More Women Develop Alzheimer's Disease? By blog Recently, I turned on the radio in my car and heard the last few minutes of an MPR [Minnesota Public Radio] All Things Considered segment about Alzheimer’s disease. A few days later I googled the subject matter and found this MPR link to the audio and an accompanying online story. Take a few minutes to read or listen to the broadcast.
_ Heart Health Statin Users Eating More Fat By Jane Farrell article Many Americans who take statins don’t have a healthy diet because the drugs give them a false sense of security, according to a new study. And the number of statin users with unhealthy diets appears to have increased. The research by investigators from UCLA indicates that patients who took statins in 2009-2010 were eating more calories and fat than those who used statins earlier. Among people who didn’t use statins, there was no similar increased.
_ CoQ10: How Reliable Is It? By Jane Farrell article Editor’s Note: CoQ10 is a popular supplement that’s said to be effective in fighting everything from congestive heart failure to gum disease. But is it safe, and is there reliable evidence to support these claims? Before you reach for a bottle of CoQ10 on your next trip to the drugstore, read this information from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, a division of the federal National Institutes of Health:
_ The Right Treatment for Irritable Bowel Syndrome By Jane Farrell article Irritable Bowel Syndrome affects an estimated 3 to 20 percent of the population, according to the federal National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NDDIC). According to the NDDIC, IBS is a collection of symptoms, not a condition. It’s been known by a number of other names in the past, including colitis and spastic colon.
_ Support Group Weight Loss Helps Diabetics By article Weight loss and control of blood sugar can reduce the risk of complications in patients with diabetes but paring off the pounds is difficult for many people. Now a randomized controlled trial of obese adults with type 2 diabetes done at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis suggests that participants enrolled in a community-based structured weight loss program are able to shed more of their excess avoir dupois, improve blood sugar control, and reduce or even eliminate insulin use.
Alzheimer's Disease and the Early-Onset Colombian Connection By blog I’m a huge fan of the CBS news show Sunday Morning. It’s 90 minutes of quality programming that I look forward to every week.
Detecting Diabetes Eye Damage Early By article Indiana University researchers have detected new early-warning signs of the potential loss of sight associated with diabetes. This discovery could have far-reaching implications for the diagnosis and treatment of diabetic retinopathy, potentially impacting the care of over 25 million Americans. The study was published in April 2014 in the journal Biomedical Optics Express.
_ Dementia Drugs Not Always Necessary By Jane Farrell article Experts say a team-based approach to handling undesirable behaviors in dementia patients could lead to a reduction in the use of psychiatric drugs. The approach is known as DICE – Describe, Investigate, Evaluate and Create. The researchers said they hope that using the DICE approach will create better teamwork among people who care for dementia patients at home, in hospitals and clinics and in residential facilities. The panel of experts published their analysis in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
_ Mental & Emotional Health Understanding Bipolar Disorder By Jane Farrell article Editor’s Note: Bipolar disorder is often talked about, but sometimes misunderstood. The story of days-long manic episodes followed by prolonged depressed periods is a familiar one. But that isn’t the only form this disorder takes. And if someone you love has a variation on classic bipolar disorder, it’s important to recognize the condition and seek diagnosis and treatment. The experts at the National Institute of Mental Health offer the distinctions between the different types of bipolar disorder:
_ Reducing Cartilage Loss in Arthritic Knees By article Treating osteoarthritic knees with drug called sprifermin, also known as recombinant human fibroblast growth factor 18, reduces the loss of cartilage. That is the findings of a study study done at Lund Univeristy in Sweden and published in April 2014 in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatology. The results showed that sprifermin dosed at 100µg reduced loss of cartilage thickness and volume in the total femorotibial (the thigh bone and the shin bone) joint and in the lateral knee compartment (the outside of the knee).
Pain Management Alternative Healing for Chronic Pain and Fatigue By article By Janet Komanchuk The numbers involved in America’s problem with chronic pain are staggering and probably larger than most realize. More than 100 million Americans suffer from chronic pain, costing nearly $600 billion annually in medical treatments and lost productivity, according to the Institute of Medicine, which adds that the total surpasses that of all people affected by heart disease, diabetes, and cancer combined.
_ Pricier Rx If Docs Get Free Drug Samples By article At least for dermatologists, access to free drug samples from Big Pharma representatives means costlier prescription for patients. That’s the finding of Stanford University Medical Center researchers who published the results of their study April 16th in JAMA Dermatology.